Video: Sarah Palin Takes Over The “Today Show”

By Gary P Jackson

Sarah Palin was both an interviewee as well as a guest host on the Tuesday morning edition of NBC’s Today Show. As the photo above, as well as the following video shows, she was both playful and serious during the show.

First the interview with Matt Lauer. They are talking presidential politics, and while Lauer tried to get her to say something bad about the prohibitive nominee, Mitt Romney, Sarah wasn’t having it. She remained professional and reminded viewers that absolutely anyone would be better than Obama. She also reminds Lauer that she had a strong record as governor.

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The interview kicked off the 7 o’clock hour. Sarah would return for the 8 o’clock hour where she participated in a segment the show calls “The Professionals” where she was part of a group discussion on topics of interest. She was feisty, to say the least.

She would also do a segment with Tori Spelling and Ann Curry as well as a segment on teenage girls and the pressure society puts on them. In between she did stand-ups outside with the hosts. It’s still cold in New York City, and while the rest were bundled up, Sarah was in shirt sleeves wearing only a stylish scarf. That scene reminded me of the first meeting between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev. It was very cold. As Gobachev’s limo pulled into the grounds, Reagan went outside to meet him dressed in only a business suit, while Gorbachev, a much younger man, was bundled up in a heavy coat and wearing a fur hat. It was a sign of strength on Reagan’s part.

I rarely comment on Sarah’s looks or choice of clothing, just not my thing, but she was absolutely stunning in all black, with a hint of red, and looked like a million bucks compared to the hosts of the show, who looked tired and old. Only Al Roker came close to matching her in the style category.

In between segments Sarah was a good sport and played around a bit for the camera. As they are talking about her upcoming interview, the camera cut to her sitting on the couch surrounded by newspapers. Later they would show her in Matt Lauer’s dressing room, now taken over by her, complete with her name on tape, pasted over his. Here she pretends to be writing notes on her hand with a magic marker, and then she gives Matt some jazz about his hair products.

NBC put together a short video of some highlights from her appearance:

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It’s interesting that she mentions Tina Fey early. Later during the “Professionals” segment the failed HBO movie Game Change comes up. While it’s obvious Sarah has no respect for the people involved, including the actress playing her, Sarah said she thought Tina Fey’s portrayal of her was OK.

All in all it was a good hour for both NBC and Sarah Palin. Sarah was able to take her brand of common sense Conservatism and expose her wit and wisdom to a different audience. It proves that Sarah can do pretty much anything she wants to.

It’s good that she’s engaging the left. The best way to win hearts and minds is to go and do it. As morning shows go, NBC is the biggest, so she had the chance to bring Conservatism to a significant audience. Sarah knows how to use the media to get her message out better than anyone in politics today. I look forward to seeing her doing more in the future.